Face From the Past
by pokeman1280
Summary: The day after the Battle of Haven, a familiar face is found in Mistral. However, it is not in the shape anyone wanted it to be. (One-shot. Based off a theory me and my coworkers came up with)


**Yet another of my one shots because I'm bored and I'm still forcing myself to take a break from Reconstruction. Based off a theory me and some of my coworkers came up with.**

* * *

Ruby placed her hands flat on the table and leaned on them. "Wait, you killed a Sea Feilong by ramming it with a _ship?"_

Blake shook her head. "I wasn't at the helm. Sun and I just kept it down at that level. The best thing I did in that fight was cutting a huge hole in that thing's wing."

Yang leaned on her bionic arm. "Think we could take one of them down as a team?"

"RNJR might be able to," Ruby chirped. "We've gotten pretty good together. Remember what I said about the thing in Kuroyuri? We decimated that thing!"

Weiss crossed her arms and smirked at her partner. "I think a Sea Feilong is a little tougher than whatever that thing was."

"Take out the wings and maybe not. Ren pointed that out when we fought a few Nevermore three months ago." Ruby slumped in her chair. "But us… I love you guys, and think you're all great fighters, but we can't be in sync anymore. I've actually spent more time with RNJR now than you guys."

"I have to agree with you there." Weiss' smirk fell. "Being apart for a year can do that to people."

"We'll get back in the swing of things soon enough." Yang hooked her right arm over Ruby's shoulders and pulled her sister close. "We can be the foundation. We've been training with each other for years."

Ruby smiled up at her sister. She still felt bad about leaving Yang like she did, but for now it looked like all was forgiven. The team leader faced her other teammates. "Well, since I doubt we'll be able to train much on our way to Atlas, we should probably get to that." She stood up from the table and focused on the Faunus member of the team. "We've got a sparring area out back, and it's got one heck of a view."

Everyone else at the table stood up as well. "How'd you get a place with a sparring area?" Blake asked.

"Uncle Qrow said something about this house belonging to Huntsmen before and it's now a rental place… and I think luck had something to do with it with Haven starting up soon."

"I can imagine." Weiss nodded. "You have anything planned yet?"

Ruby straightened up. She missed doing this with her team. "I figured we could start with some of our old team attacks. Maybe later we can go hunt some Grimm and see how well we work against them. I also have a few new team atta-" Someone knocked on the front door, making Ruby jump. She turned her head around to face it. "We expecting anybody?"

"I'm not," Yang said. "I don't know anybody here."

Ruby walked to the front door and opened it a crack. She looked through and smiled. "Hey, Sun." She pulled open the door and faced her team. "Coast is clear."

The rest of her team walked over. Blake's ears stood on end. "Sun, I told you I was catching up with my team."

"I know." Sun winced and raised his hands palms out toward Blake. "That's… actually why I'm here."

"Mistral police want to ask us about what happened last night?" Yang asked.

"Not last night, something that happened this morning." Sun lowered his hands. "I called Neptune to see if the rest of the guys were in Mistral yet. He said he found someone outside the walls that looked a lot like Ruby." He focused on said girl. "Your mother doesn't live in Mistral, does she?"

Ruby stiffened, then slumped. _Again? In Mistral?_ She shook her head. "My mom's dead. She has been since I was a little girl."

Sun winced again. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring it up… but Neptune said the called you and Yang out by name, and someone named Taiyang Xiao Long, your dad?"

"Didn't you hear her?" Yang growled. She stepped forward with her hands clenched. "She's been gone for years. Let it go."

Sun backed away and held his hands up. "Geez, Yang. Don't shoot the messenger."

"Yang," Blake started, "what's going on?"

Yang faced her partner. "This has happened before. After our mom disappeared, we got several calls from hospitals across Remnant. They thought various Julie Does were her. None of them were."

"I thought your mom kidnapped me," Weiss said.

Yang shook her head. "I'm talking about my _real_ mom, not my birth mom."

Ruby nodded and dipped her head. "Did… any of them call us out by name before?"

"No…" Yang faced her sister, her eyes soft. "Are you sure you want to go down this road again."

"They never found mom's body." Ruby's lower lip trembled. "What if…"

After a few seconds, Yang sighed. "Sun, if it's not her, I'm going to kick yours and your partner's asses."

Sun flicked his eyes between Ruby and Yang. "Something tells me I wouldn't be able to stop you anyway."

Yang shook her head. "Not a chance."

"What hospital is she at?" Ruby asked.

"Mercy, right by the lower wall." Sun pointed a thumb and his tail east.

"We better start walking then." Ruby stared walking in that direction. Sun turned around and led the way. One of Yang's hands fell on her sister's shoulder and squeezed. Ruby turned her head around. Weiss and Blake were right behind them. "You two don't have to come with."

"We know," Weiss said sounding unsure of herself. "We just thought you two could use the… emotional support?"

"And if this is a trap," Blake started, "you two are going to need all the help you two can get."

"You think it could be?" Ruby asked.

"The White Fang tried to kill my parents a while back and Adam is still out there. I wouldn't put it past him."

Ruby nodded, then grabbed Crescent Rose on her belt, just to know her weapon was there. She faced forward and kept walking. About halfway to the hospital, Yang squeezed Ruby's left shoulder. "Ruby, I thought you were past this. You haven't talked about this in years."

"I know. I thought I was too…" Ruby hung her head. "She… has to be gone. She would have come home if she wasn't… It's either her… or Blake's right. On the off chance its neither, we need to tell the hospital she's not mom."

Yang sighed and pulled out her Scroll. "I'm texting Qrow and Oscar. They need to know what's going on."

The rest of the walk continued in silence, but Ruby's brain ran into overdrive. All those thoughts from elementary school came roaring back and she couldn't stop them. What if this time it really was her mom? What if they'd finally be a full family again? Some new, less happy ones came up as well. What if her mom didn't recognize her? What if she's unrecognizable herself? It had been years. Either was possible… then there was the possibility of the whole thing being a trap. The full team against Adam and whoever else he rounded up… those weren't the best odds.

The hospital came into view down the road. So far nothing jumped out at them, and with the attack on Haven the night before, the hospital had more police stationed out front. Not many, but enough to be noticed.

Team RWBY plus Sun entered the hospital and followed the lone guy through several halls. They rounded another corner revealing Neptune staring through a window into one of the rooms with a hand on his chin. It didn't look like his clothes had changed much either. He turned his head to the newcomers and raised his head. "I was wondering when you guys were going to get here." He walked to close the distance.

"There wasn't as much foot traffic as I was expecting." Sun grabbed one of his teammates hands and they pulled each other into a bro hug. They separated almost instantly. "Amazing how much an Academy can change the life of a city."

"A bit, yeah." Neptune looked past Sun and at team RWBY. "Good to see you all again."

"More friendly faces are always appreciated." Weiss smiled at Neptune. "It's been a while."

Neptune returned the smile, then faced Yang, or more specifically, her bionic arm. "Good to see you're back at full strength."

"It's good to be like that." Yang raised her right arm and clenched her fist. "And I'm going to use this to beat you senseless if you got Ruby's and my hopes up again."

Neptune took a step back and looked Ruby up and down. "I don't think I have anything to be worried about… You two look more alike than I thought.

Ruby slumped her shoulders, then shook her head. "I take it she's in that room?" She pointed at the one Neptune was looking into before.

"Yeah, but… she's in bad shape. It's a bit of a shock." He walked back to the window and looked through it.

Ruby did the same and her breath caught in her throat. The woman on the bed had a white bandage over her eyes. Her hair grew down past the center of her back, but it was probably longer than that with all the matting. Her skeletal arms had scars, fresh and new, and in some places had blood stained bandages over them. The woman couldn't have been over fifty, probably much younger than that even, yet she looked as frail as one twice her age.

"Oh my gosh." Weiss covered her mouth with a hand.

"That's… not healthy," Blake said.

"That's all you got?" Sun asked. "The only people I've seen like this were in documentaries of the Great War in Mantle concentration camps."

"Yeah…" Ruby examined the woman again. The hair color was right, black up top and fading to red toward the ends. The parts of the woman's face that weren't stretched against her skull looked familiar too. It wasn't enough to confirm, but she couldn't deny it either. "What color are her eyes?"

"She… doesn't have any." Neptune shifted on his feet. "I'm no expert, but I think they were clawed out by Grimm."

Ruby winced. "Ouch." She didn't care who the person was. That had to hurt. "I… don't know. It could be her, but…"

"Uncle Qrow texted back," Yang said. "Said he'll be here when he can." She shook her head. "Can we get her to talk?"

Neptune shrugged. "I did some actual detective work in my home town, so Mistral PD gave me the case… for now at least while their attention is focused on Haven. Detective Wukong, care to join me?"

Sun nodded. "Fine with me." He looked between Ruby and Yang. "Anything you two want us to ask to make sure?"

Ruby and Yang exchanged a look, then faced the junior detectives. "I have a few…" Ruby laid out as many as she could think of, some of them were things that people could get from looking online, others that she thought only her mom would know. Yang added a few of her own to the mix as well.

After the sisters were out of questions, Neptune called Ruby's Scroll. "Now you can hear what we're saying when we're inside."

"Thanks." Ruby muted her own mic then stared through the window again. The only sign of life in the other woman was her breathing and the blips on all the machines she was hooked up to. At the moment, Ruby didn't know if she wanted the woman on the other side to be her mom or not.

Sun pushed the door open and stepped inside with Neptune right behind him. The woman's head lolled to the side and toward the detectives. _"Who's there?"_ a raspy and… almost familiar voice came over Ruby's Scroll.

" _It's detective_ _Vasilias_ _again,"_ Neptune said. _"I'm here with my partner detective Sun Wukong. We're here to ask you a few questions."_ They lined up on the left side of the woman's bed.

The woman aimed her head at Neptune. _"Water."_

Sun grabbed a disposable cup and walked into the room's bathroom. Seconds later he walked out with the cup full. _"Can you drink this yourself or do you need help."_

The woman stuck a hand out to the left of Sun. _"I can do it."_ Sun handed the woman the cup and she drank it all in one go. She sighed and handed the cup back to the detective. _"Thank you."_

Ruby squeaked and she covered her mouth with a hand. She looked up at her sister. Yang's jaw dropped. "That's… her voice," the older sister said.

"Yeah…" Ruby nodded and faced the room again.

" _I'm going to say this now,"_ Neptune started, _"we met Ruby and Yang at the Vytal Festival in Vale."_ The woman jerked her head to Neptune and her jaw dropped. _"Our teams got along well. They're nice girls… but one of them said that her mom died years ago."_

" _Oh… okay."_ The woman turned her head away to face the ceiling. _"I… have been gone a long time."_

" _Some of these questions are to run against are records for your identity, some are from our experiences with Ruby and Yang,"_ Sun said. _"We need to cover all bases here."_ He looked through the window at Ruby and Yang, then back at the woman. _"First off, what is your full legal name?"_

" _Summer Rose Xiao Long, but I go by my maiden name more often than not."_

" _What are the full names of your family members?"_

A ghost of a smile graced 'Summer's face. She suddenly didn't look so frail. _"My husband is Taiyang Xiao Long, my oldest, well, she's not MY oldest, but she's still mine, is Yang Xiao Long. My baby girl is Ruby Rose, but I guess she isn't much of a baby anymore."_

Both Sun and Neptune looked out this time and Sun raised his eyebrows. Ruby nodded. That was all right. If that came from her dad, she would have been embarrassed. But if this woman was who she thought she was…

Sun and Neptune ran through several more questions that had a paper trail somewhere along the line, including a few Ruby and Yang didn't think of. 'Summer' answered them all right, well, right for eleven years ago. Yang confirmed all the things that Ruby didn't know. Ruby felt her eyes welling up. This… she had to be dreaming. Yang pulled her close, and another hand rested on her back. Ruby looked to her right. Weiss stood right next to her with a hand on her back. It looked like Blake was doing the same with Yang. Ruby nodded at her partner, then faced the room again.

" _Now to the questions that we have from the time we met Ruby and Yang,"_ Neptune said. _"Some of these have undoubtedly changed since you knew them, but they're all we have to go off of."_ Summer nodded. _"Since they talked about it all the time, what are Ruby's and Yang's favorite cookies?"_

Summer's smile returned, once again making her look at the height of health. _"That's easy. They both love my chocolate chip cookies with a touch of peanut butter. The difference is how they like it done. Yang likes them done all the way through, Ruby likes a doughy center."_ She giggled. _"I always had to make two batches because of that."_

Ruby sniffed and nodded like a bobblehead. Mom's cookies were the best. "Yang… is it…" She looked up at her sister. Yang's eyes were red but not in their usual way. There were also a few tears on her cheeks. "Is it her?"

"I… I think so Ruby." Yang jerked her head up and down. "I think so."

Ruby looked back in the room at the woman… her long lost mom. Despite her condition, Summer was laughing, glowing whenever she mentioned her daughters. It made Ruby happy too… but then her mom's condition finally hit her. It looked like her mom had lived through hell, like she hadn't eaten in months, with no sun for _years._ It hurt seeing her supermom so weak…

She couldn't take it anymore. Ruby broke out of Yang's grip and pushed the door open. All heads in the room turned to her. Summer pushed herself a little off her pillow. "What's going on?"

"M… mo…" Ruby struggled to force her voice through her clenched throat. "Mom?"

Summer's jaw dropped and she pushed herself farther up. "What did you say?"

"M… mommy?" Ruby wasn't sure why she said that, but she didn't care.

Her mom's jaw dropped even more and she pushed her body into a sitting position. "Ruby?"

Ruby squeaked and she pounced to her mom's bedside. She leaned over the bed and hugged her as hard as she dared. The girl cried into her mom's shoulder. "I love you, mom. I missed you so much."

Her mom squeezed her with more force than Ruby thought possible in her condition. She felt a kiss on the back of her head just behind her ear. "I missed you, too, Little Rose. I'm so sorry I left you alone for so long. I love you so much."

"I forgive you." Ruby took her head off her mom's shoulder and smiled at her mom's face, not that she would ever see it again. "I have so much to tell you."

"I'm sure you do, Gem." Her mom leaned forward and kissed Ruby on the forehead. "I do too."

More footsteps entered the room. "Hi… mom," Yang said.

Summer turned her head to her other daughter. "Yang?" Her smile widened even more.

"Yeah." A few footsteps later, Yang latched onto the other side of Summer. "It's so good to see you again."

"Same to you, Yang." Summer brought a hand up and held the back of Yang's head. She ran her fingers through her daughter's hair, and Yang didn't even flinch. Her mom ran her fingers all the way through Yang's hair. "You've grown this out."

"Yeah." Yang pulled her head back. "It's kind of my thing."

Summer laughed. "Just like your mother." Her mouth contorted like she winced. "Sorry. I don't know if you're on good terms with her…"

"You're fine." Yang waved her off. "Dad told me a little bit about her recently."

"Good." Summer sighed. "You deserve to know." She turned her head between her two daughters. "I know this may sound weird given my current condition, but can I see you two?" She took her hand off Ruby and wiggled her fingers.

"Oh! Yes!" Ruby leaned back a little but left her right arm within her mom's reach.

Summer gently grabbed Ruby's hand. She ran her fingers all over her daughter's hand. "A few callouses. You have a long barreled weapon."

"Yep! Crescent Rose is a sniper, guess where that came from, and a scythe like Uncle Qrow's. Oh!" Ruby faced her sister. "Have you told him yet?"

"On it." Yang took out her Scroll and started texting.

Summer's hand continued up Ruby's arm, squeezing in a few places. "You have some muscle, but not as much as others. I'm guessing you rely on speed."

"It's my Semblance. I can run really fast. It sort of made its way into the rest of my fighting style too."

"It typically does." Summer trailed her hand up Ruby's arm to her shoulder. Ruby leaned more toward her more so her mom could have better access at her head. Summer's hand reached Ruby's head and she caressed her daughter's cheek. Her smile grew and she laughed. "You're a beautiful woman, Ruby. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She used a thumb to wipe a tear off Ruby's cheek.

Yang smirked as she put her Scroll away. "Sorry you two. Ruby's adorable. There's only room for one beautiful woman in this family."

Summer turned her head to Yang and smirked. "Yang, don't call yourself ugly."

Ruby burst out laughing. She backed away from the bed and nearly doubled over. It probably wasn't that funny, but it was so nice hearing her mom joke again. Yang's jaw dropped, then she returned her mom's smirk. "So that's how it's going to be, mom?"

"Yep. I've got a decade's worth of jokes and mothering to catch up on." Summer raised an arm toward Yang. "It's your turn, Phoenix."

Yang moved her right arm forward then stopped. She pulled her bionic back and brought her right hand to her mom's. "I think I'm a little bulkier than Ruby."

Summer nodded. "Oh yes. Even less callouses and all on the back. You're a fist fighter like your dad."

"Yeah. He taught me everything I know."

Her mom ran her hand up Yang's until she met a gauntlet. "If figured you've have something like this. Does it fire with each punch or is it manual?"

"A bit of both. Believe it or not, there are times when I don't want to use a shotgun blast with my punches."

"I can see that." Summer continued her exploration up Yang's arm, squeezing in a few places. "You definitely took after Tai. Strong enough to punch an Ursa a few dozen feet."

"And enough to keep jerks away from me and Ruby."

"There's that too." Summer's hand eventually made it up to Yang's face. "No, Yang, you're not ugly. You're just as beautiful as your sister. And yes, there is room for multiple beauties in this family."

Yang laughed. "I'm okay with that."

Summer giggled. "So, are you two going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Yeah!" Ruby faced where the two detectives stood in the corner of the room. "You already met two of them. We met Sun and Neptune before the tournament. Their whole team's pretty cool."

"Sup?" Sun said with a smirk.

Neptune gave Sun a look, then faced the bed again. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Rose."

"Please," Summer waved a hand in front of herself, "I don't do formalities. You can call me Summer."

"Just outside is the rest of our team." Yang waved at the window. The remaining members of the team walked into the room. "Meet Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Summer." Weiss gave Summer small bow and winced. Ruby giggled. Her mom wouldn't be able to see the gesture.

"This is a pleasant surprise to say the least." Blake leaned against the wall and smiled. "From what I've heard about you, you're a great mom."

"Why thank you." Summer paused. "Both of your names sound familiar."

Weiss trailed a foot across the floor. "I can imagine why for me. Yes, I am one of those Schnees, and no, I don't get along with my father."

"Good to know. I don't know anyone who was happy with the way he paraded you around. It was a toss-up on whether you'd go with him or against him." Summer nodded at Weiss. "It's good to hear that you're one of the good guys."

"She's my partner!" Ruby chirped. "She's really nice when she wants to be. Wiess is a great fighter too. She and Yang fought for team RWBY in the Vytal Festival tournament."

"I'll take your word for it… wait, RWBY? Us?" Summer turned her head back and forth between her daughters. "You're on the same team?"

"Yeah, and she's team leader." Yang smiled at Ruby. "We don't butt heads too much."

"Or at all." Ruby returned the smile. "And before you ask, Ozpin let me in two years early. I don't think Professor Goodwitch was too happy about it though."

"I knew Glynda while she was going for her doctorate. Trust me, the only thing that makes her happy is seeing soldiers or dogs being reunited with families. To be fair, if those things don't make you happy, you're a Grimm." The whole room laughed at that. After it quieted down, Summer turned her head in Blake's general direction. "I know Belladonna is a fairly common Faunus last name, but is your father Ghira Belladonna?"

Blake's cat ears stood straight up. "Yeah. You know him?"

"I worked security for one of his rallies in Vale. I believe I met you too, but you were less than a year old at the time. I don't think you'd remember me."

"Oh." Blake blinked. "I guess that was before Sienna took over."

Ruby smiled at her teammate, but it faded as she turned back to Summer. "Mom, where have you been? It's been years. What happened to you?"

Summer faced Ruby and all happiness in her face faded. Her head dipped, and she looked as frail as she did when Ruby first saw her. "Girls, I'm sorry. I promise I will tell you everything you want to know. I don't want to keep these from you… but I can't do it here. We're too public. When we get out of here, I will tell you everything from the beginning."

Ruby looked at Weiss and Yang, then leaned in close to her mother's ear. "Salem?" she whispered.

Her mom froze. "Where did you hear that name?" Summer whispered back.

"Uncle Qrow." Ruby pulled back then looked at the space on the bed beside her mom. She hopped over the railing and snuggled close to her mom. One of Summer's arms wrapped around her daughter's shoulders and pulled her closer. Yang did the same on the other side and had the same thing happen to her.

Ruby faced the other members of her team. "Weiss, Blake, can you get the door and blinds?" The two did as asked then returned to their former positions. "Mom, we all know about her, or at least Uncle Qrow would read the others in."

Weiss stiffened, then glared at Neptune. "If this is what I think it is, this is _not_ a secret that we want getting out. This is top secret, not even the councils know this."

Neptune raised his arms. "Whoa, okay. What's going on?"

"I'd like to know that too," Blake said. "Something happen when I was in Menagerie?"

"Kind of?" Ruby rested her head on her mom's shoulder.

Summer opened her mouth, then coughed. "Could I get some more water?"

"I got you." Sun walked to the bathroom again and filled up another cup. He brought it out and handed it over. Again, Summer downed it all in one go.

"Thank you." Summer sighed as she held the empty cup back out. Sun grabbed it and set it to the side. "One of Salem's goons got me on my last mission, three days after I left home. He brought me to her castle, I don't know exactly where. Salem came to me and gouged my eyes out herself. They were the only threat I was to Salem. She was the last thing I saw." Ruby couldn't hold back a whimper. She hugged her mom as tight as she dared with Yang adding her own to the mix.

"Girls, you were the only things keeping me going… Salem tried to demoralize me by telling me all the bad things that happened to the two of you over the past year... but she never said you were dead. That was enough. So I know a lot more about you two than I should… including your right arm Yang." Yang pulled her bionic out from between her and Summer.

"I couldn't be prouder of the two of you. You've accomplished more that so many other Huntress your age. You've fought your demons and have come out on top, stronger than you were before. I love you both to death, and I'm hoping I can see you grow even stronger."

"You will mom." Ruby squeezed tighter. "We won't let you down."

"We'll get her back," Yang said. "We'll get her back for what she did to you."

"Not anytime soon." Their mom shook her head. "You two are definitely not strong enough."

Ruby pulled back. "Mom, what did you mean that your eyes were your only threat to Salem?"

Summer turned her head to her youngest. "I thought Qrow filled you in?"

"About what?"

Before her mom could answer, someone knocked on the door. Neptune peeked outside. "It's a guy with crazy black hair, red eyes, and a suit."

"That's our Uncle," Ruby said. "Let him in."

Neptune opened the door and Qrow stepped inside. He let his arms fall and his mouth hung open. "My god. You're alive."

"Sorry to disappoint," Summer chirped, showing no sign of what she just said. "How you been, Birdbrain?"

"I've… been better." Qrow closed the door behind him. "Still recovering a bit from poisoning."

"Poison? What happened?" Summer sniffed, then scowled. "Oh. _That_ kind of poison. Qrow, mind telling me why you smell like a bar?"

Qrow stiffened. "Oh. That. Uh…"

"Someone grab his ear and pull him over to me," Summer ordered.

"Gladly." Weiss stepped forward and grabbed Qrow's right ear. He yelped as Weiss pulled him along. "I've wanted to do something like this for a while." She threw the Huntsman onto the bed in range of Summer's arm.

The blind Huntress found one of Qrow's ears and pinched it. "Why are you drunk? In a _hospital_ no less. What do you have to say for yourself young man?"

"Well, uh, you see mom…" Qrow stuttered.

Ruby blinked. _Mom?_

"You know what I've said about the stuff. We need to be ready to act at a moment's notice. If you're drunk, you're not at the top of your game, and that could get you or someone else hurt, or worse. Do you want that?"

"No mom." Qrow sounded like a kid that just got grounded.

"Good." Summer released Qrow's ear and smiled. "It's good to hear you again, Qrow."

"Right back at ya, Sum." Qrow straightened himself and pat one of Summer's legs.

Ruby looked between her mom and Qrow. "Uh, mom?"

Qrow gestured at Summer. "Your mom was team STRQ's mom first. She kept us in line no matter how antsy we got."

"You know it," Summer cheered. "I'm the only reason STRQ didn't get kicked out our first year. Everyone else was quite the trouble maker."

"You weren't exactly innocent either." Qrow smirked. "Well Sum, you've convinced your daughter's that you're real. I've got one more test."

Summer cocked her head. "And that is?"

Qrow pulled out a bag of Sunburst Jellybeans from behind his back. Ruby looked at her mom, then back at her Uncle. Those things were good, but how did they prove anything? Qrow peeled open a corner of the bag and Summer straightened. "Qrow. Bag. Now."

"I'm not sure." Qrow shrugged. "I kind of like these too now."

"Qrow! If you want kids of your own, you will hand me or one of the girls the bag. _NOW!"_ Dust fell from the ceiling with Summer's shout.

Qrow blanched. "Yep. You're her." Qrow handed the bag to Yang.

"Handling fee." Yang took one of the jellybeans out and popped it into her mouth before handing the bag over.

"I'll allow it." Summer used her fingers to search for the opening. When she found it, she reached inside and grabbed a huge handful. "It's been soooo long since I've had not stale food." She slammed the handful into her mouth and sighed. "So goo…" she moaned through the blockage.

"If you want some Em Dees," Sun started, "I can go pick some up and smuggle it in."

"A detective smuggling?" Summer smirked at Sun. "It looks like Mistral Police has a corruption problem." She stuffed another handful of jellybeans into her mouth.

"Not really. I just like to help people out."

"Then yes, please. I don't really care what."

"Got it." Sun walked toward the door and Qrow gave him a few Lien cards on the way out.

"Are you sure you want _that_ as one of your first meals back?" Weiss asked.

"I haven't had a filling meal in ten years. It's just been stale and/or moldy bread and dirty water. Whatever they have now is healthier than what I had before... that and there weren't and Shake n' Steaks in Mistral when I disappeared."

Weiss sighed and brought a hand to her forehead. "You definitely are Ruby's mother."

Ruby snuggled closer to her mom. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Thank you, Ruby." Summer turned her head and kissed Ruby's forehead.

"What about me?" Yang shoulder bumped her mom.

"Oh, fine." Summer turned her head in the other direction and kissed Yang's forehead. She then turned her head around the whole room. "Well, most of you have heard my story. What are all of yours?"

* * *

 **The timing I can pretty much guarantee you isn't right, but until RT confirms otherwise in the show or a QnA, I am clinging onto hope that Summer is still alive. If I've learned anything from watching TV and movies, no one is truly dead until you see a body, and even then that's no guarantee (ex. Nick Fury, Phil Coulson, probably quite a few of the Avengers).**


End file.
